Henson eyes debut after code switch
rugby league
FORMER Wales fly-half Gavin Henson could make his rugby league debut against Widnes, the team that courted him early in his rugby union career.
The 39-year-old has switched codes with League 1 club West Wales Raiders, whose first match of the 2021 season will be a Challenge Cup tie against former Super League club Widnes in March.
PEP GUARDIOLA has pointed to the growing influence of Gabriel Jesus both on and off the pitch as Manchester City continue to fight on four trophy fronts.
Jesus has not been an automatic starter in the Premier League this season, even in the absence of Sergio Aguero through injury and illness.
But the Brazil striker has been in fine form and scored his fourth goal in as many starts as Guardiola’s side reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win at Championship side Swansea on Wednesday.
It was Jesus’ eighth goal of the season and made this the 23-year-old’s best run since scoring in seven straight starts between April and October 2019.
City boss Guardiola, who had dropped Jesus to the bench for Sunday’s 4-1 Premier League win at Liverpool, said: ‘It does a lot for his confidence. He could have scored more but he played really, really well. He was incredible at Anfield in the locker room when he didn’t play. He was incredibly supportive to his mates.
‘When a guy is like this he is so supportive to the other ones. When he plays, he always plays good. It’s important for strikers to score. He was brilliant, really brilliant.’
City’s 15th consecutive victory in all competitions set a new record by an English top-flight club, eclipsing the previous mark held by the Preston North End side of 1891-92 and George Graham’s Arsenal in 1987.